Hot Topics:

Acting out lessons in preventing date violence

By Anne O'Connor, Correspondent

Updated:
02/27/2014 06:52:29 AM EST

Robert Aguerra, playing an abusive boyfriend, and Wilmarie Morales, playing an arresting police officer, perform a skit during a forum against teen dating violence at the YMCA in Fitchburg Thursday.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our Smugmug site.

FITCHBURG -- The world can be a challenging place for teens. Sometimes just being able to tell what behaviors are acceptable can be difficult.

Dating, peer relations and interactions with authority figures can turn into abusive situations. A special event gave teens a chance to learn from each other what is OK.

Peer leaders and educators from two Fitchburg-based organizations sponsored a Teen Dating Violence Awareness event at the Montachusett Community Branch of the YMCA in Fitchburg on Wednesday.

Beginning in December, six peer leaders from the Montachusett Opportunity Council collaborated with three peer educators from the YMCA. Over 50 teens attended their afternoon production.

Fitchburg High senior Jack Reynolds was one of several youth peer leaders to share personal stories about friends dealing with dating violence.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our Smugmug site.

After a snack of pizza and sandwiches, the audience settled in but were not given a chance to sit back and snooze. The leaders performed the skits they wrote illustrating different types of abuse. Viewers were asked to identify what type of abuse was being shown in each skit.

Characters included boyfriends and girlfriends, a parent and child, and portrayed abusive men and women.

In another section of the program the audience was asked to say whether specific statements about abuse were fact or myth.

Teens don't always know what love is and what abuse is, said Angaw Kahassai, teen director at the YMCA. "They don't understand that."

The peer leaders kept the audience thinking. After the skits, they read stories and took questions.

Advertisement

One teen told her own story. At the end, a girl in the audience called out, "You go, girl!"

Another story was taken from the life of Jessica Diaz, the program director at MOC.

As a teen, she was in an abusive dating situation. "I didn't know what teen dating violence was. I thought it was OK," she said.

"No type of abuse is OK," Diaz said. "That's why I work with these groups."

The four peer leaders from MOC were hired four years ago. Originally, there were six students in the group. One graduated and another decided to dedicate more time to her studies.

The leaders were chosen with input from the guidance counselors and represent a cross-section of the school population, Diaz said. The program will recruit a new team this summer after the current students graduate.

The program at the YMCA is a free afternoon drop-in center serving an average of 50 students a day. It opens at 1:30 and remains open until 6 or 7 p.m.

"It's a safe place for a kid to hang out,´ Kahassai said.

The teens are familiar with the YMCA and its staff. Many of them have attended YMCA programs since early childhood.

Funded by the United Way and other donors, the drop-in center offers homework help, special programming and a chance to use the wellness center, pool and basketball court in the building. Each year, a group goes on a college tour.

"It's collaboration that gets so much done in the city," said Jennifer Gordon, the associate executive director of the Montachusett YMCA. Community Health Connections and LUK also work with the youth at the YMCA.

"Once they see all of us together, they trust us," Kahassai said.

The February program was the first the peer leaders from MOC have presented on teen dating. Two more events are scheduled this season. They will hold a women and girls HIV awareness event in March and a teen-pregnancy prevention event in May.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sentinel and Enterprise. So keep it civil.